and many more benefits!

Find us on Facebook

GMAT Club Timer Informer

Hi GMATClubber!

Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:

Hide Tags

Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of many social ills,...
[#permalink]

Show Tags

05 Nov 2014, 11:43

1

3

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

81%(00:50) correct 19%(00:59) wrong based on 319 sessions

HideShow timer Statistics

Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of many social ills, ranging from irritability to potentially dangerous instances of impaired decision making. Most people today suffer from sleep deprivation to some degree. Therefore we should restructure the workday to allow people flexibility in scheduling their work hours.

Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the medical doctor's argument?

(A) The primary cause of sleep deprivation is overwork.(B) Employees would get more sleep if they had greater latitude in scheduling their work hours.(C) Individuals vary widely in the amount of sleep they require.(D) More people would suffer from sleep deprivation today than did in the past if the average number of hours worked per week had not decreased.(E) The extent of one's sleep deprivation is proportional to the length of one's workday.

Re: Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of many social ills,...
[#permalink]

Show Tags

05 Nov 2014, 11:55

1

1

LaxAvenger wrote:

Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of many social ills, ranging from irritability to potentially dangerous instances of impaired decision making. Most people today suffer from sleep deprivation to some degree. Therefore we should restructure the workday to allow people flexibility in scheduling their work hours.

Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the medical doctor's argument?

(A) The primary cause of sleep deprivation is overwork.(B) Employees would get more sleep if they had greater latitude in scheduling their work hours.(C) Individuals vary widely in the amount of sleep they require.(D) More people would suffer from sleep deprivation today than did in the past if the average number of hours worked per week had not decreased.(E) The extent of one's sleep deprivation is proportional to the length of one's workday.

The question asks you to strengthen the conclusion.

First we identify the conclusion. "Therefore" is often a big flag of conclusion statements, and that holds true here also. The conclusion is: "we should restructure the workday to allow people flexibility in scheduling their work hours."

Now we look to the preceding sentences (premises). The premise is that sleep deprivation is bad and common.

The typical structure of an argument is Premise + Assumption = Conclusion

Since we've identified the premise and the conclusion, one way to strengthen the conclusion is to prove one of the assumptions, so that the link between premise and conclusion is stronger. Another way is to reinforce a premise.

Let's look at the answer choices:

a) This says overwork causes sleep deprivation. However, there is still nothing that says that overwork is the same as having an inflexible schedule for working hours. Therefore I eliminate this.b) This one is correct. Some non-native English speakers might be thrown off by the use of "latitude" because this employs the secondary definition of the word, "scope for freedom of action or thought." If this statement were true, then the argument makes more sense: sleep deprivation is bad -> flexible scheduling fixes sleep deprivation -> we should have more flexible scheduling.c) This seems somewhat irrelevant if not contrary to the premise.d) This also seems irrelevant. It's taking about a hypothetical situation that doesn't matter for this argument.e) This answer choice MIGHT make sense if the conclusion was something about shortening the work day. But because the conclusion says nothing about fewer hours (instead it says flexible hours), it is irrelevant.

Show Tags

Re: Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation is the cause of many social ills,...
[#permalink]

Show Tags

17 Dec 2017, 06:25

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________